Results 36,641-36,660 of 49,836 for speaker:Stephen Donnelly

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Medicinal Products (10 Dec 2020)

Stephen Donnelly: There have been several conversations and representations about Patisiran, the second drug the Deputy referenced, and I will revert to him and colleagues with an update on it. Any opportunity we can find to accelerate access to these new and exciting drugs should be taken. I had a conversation with medical oncologists just this week on access to new cancer drugs. On the €50...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Covid-19 Pandemic (10 Dec 2020)

Stephen Donnelly: Since the beginning of the pandemic, we have pursued a robust testing and contact tracing strategy. The HSE has worked intensively to put in place a comprehensive, reliable and responsive testing and tracing operation in a very short timeframe.  The redeployment of existing staff from other areas of the HSE, including front-line services as the Deputy pointed out, was an essential part...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Medicinal Products (10 Dec 2020)

Stephen Donnelly: I propose to take Questions Nos. 85 and 452 together. The HSE has statutory responsibility for decisions on pricing and reimbursement of medicines under the Health (Pricing and Supply of Medical Goods) Act 2013. I am informed that the HSE received two applications for the reimbursement of dupilumab for the treatment of moderate to severe atopic dermatitis in patients who are...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Medicinal Products (10 Dec 2020)

Stephen Donnelly: I agree with everything the Deputy has said. The health committee of the previous Dáil spent a lot of time considering this. The good news is that there are some amazing, life-changing and lifesaving new drugs out there. A lot of them are so-called high-tech drugs, which are very expensive, and the HSE has been paying a lot more for such drugs. In recent years, for example, the...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: General Practitioner Services (10 Dec 2020)

Stephen Donnelly: I thank both Deputies for their responses. As Members will know, all of the relevant services were closed during the Covid-19 pandemic. I have no doubt that the fact that the Blackpool centre remains closed is very frustrating for the people of the north of the city whom the Deputies represent. Reopening it is a priority. The HSE has engaged with SouthDoc to ask for the centre to be...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: General Practitioner Services (10 Dec 2020)

Stephen Donnelly: I thank the Deputy. He asks a very fair question about timelines for timelines. I can make a commitment to both Deputies that I will have a response from the HSE in a matter of days. That does not mean SouthDoc will have provided the timeline that has been requested of it. I will re-emphasise the importance of this and revert to both Deputies on both issues in a matter of days.

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Vaccination Programme (10 Dec 2020)

Stephen Donnelly: I thank Deputy Bríd Smith for her question. When I received the question, it alarmed me because it suggested something that should not be happening. As a result, I asked for it be looked into. The flu vaccine is free for all healthcare workers working in our public and voluntary hospitals and to all healthcare workers delivering front-line services. It is also available free of...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Vaccination Programme (10 Dec 2020)

Stephen Donnelly: I thank the Deputy. The two issues are separate. There is the question of vaccinations and the question of students and the allowances they should be paid. I know the Deputy and others are advocating that they become part of the paid workforce. The colleges are strongly opposed to that and are very worried about it. They believe the comparisons with the apprenticeship model could set the...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Vaccination Programme (10 Dec 2020)

Stephen Donnelly: We are talking about a different issue now but I am very happy to talk about it. There are two separate issues. One is whether students are being asked to do inappropriate activities while on their clinical placements. Various testimonies have been read out in the Dáil and various students have given testimony in the media and online. As Minister for Health, I take those allegations...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: General Practitioner Services (10 Dec 2020)

Stephen Donnelly: I propose to take Questions Nos. 83 and 157 together. I thank the Deputy for his question and acknowledge his ongoing advocacy on this very important issue for the region and for his constituency. GP out-of-hours services for Cork and Kerry are provided by SouthDoc. The latter is a private organisation with more than 20 locations across the two counties, including a treatment centre in...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Hospital Facilities (10 Dec 2020)

Stephen Donnelly: I acknowledge the Deputy's advocacy for this essential healthcare infrastructure for the region in question. I had a very productive meeting with the Saolta group some days ago regarding ongoing projects at University Hospital Galway, including this one, and a discussion on elective facilities in the region. I am happy to say this project for a new emergency department at University...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Hospital Facilities (10 Dec 2020)

Stephen Donnelly: I will get a specific answer. That specific query was not included in the question the Deputy submitted, which seeks an update on the totality of the works. The latter is what I endeavoured to provide. I will revert to the Deputy very quickly with the timeline relating to her additional specific question on planning permission. On the new hospital, I had a very constructive meeting...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Hospital Facilities (10 Dec 2020)

Stephen Donnelly: In defence of University Hospital Galway, I think it is fit for purpose. The staff there do exceptional work. I visited the hospital when I was in opposition.

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Hospital Facilities (10 Dec 2020)

Stephen Donnelly: They do indeed do exceptional work. The proposition of elective hospitals is one being deployed in Cork, Galway and Dublin. It is international best practice and is going well where it is used. Tallaght has secured an elective-only site in its area. The idea is to separate scheduled and unscheduled care as that has good outcomes. I take the point about having a more ambitious plan...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Covid-19 Pandemic (10 Dec 2020)

Stephen Donnelly:  We can all agree that this is a good week and that last week was a good week in terms of our fight against Covid-19 as we move to prioritisation of vaccines if and when they are approved. The Government is committed to the roll-out of a Covid-19 vaccination programme as soon as suitable products have been authorised and supplies are available. A high-level task force was...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Covid-19 Pandemic (10 Dec 2020)

Stephen Donnelly: I agree wholeheartedly with the Deputy. A lot of work is ongoing in the Department and across government on a communications plan. We have a very strong record of vaccinations in Ireland. We will roll out a comprehensive plan. It is about listening to people's concerns and taking them seriously. It is also about providing the medical and scientific experts to engage with people and...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Covid-19 Pandemic (10 Dec 2020)

Stephen Donnelly: I agree wholeheartedly with the Deputy. The prioritisation and implementation strategies announced this week are identified by the task force as living documents because how the vaccines are rolled out and which country gets them and when is dependent on three factors, namely, when the European Medicines Agency, EMA, authorises them, information that is still to come from the regulatory...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Nursing Education (10 Dec 2020)

Stephen Donnelly: It is vital that student nurses and midwives complete their essential clinical placements in a safe environment and our senior nurses have gone to great lengths to ensure this is the case. I also recognise the potential hardship that might arise for students on placement due to Covid-19. Student nurses and midwives are not paid salaries for clinical placements in years 1 to 3, when they are...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Nursing Education (10 Dec 2020)

Stephen Donnelly: Regarding the short-term review, we are conducting it because that is what the representative bodies asked for. We are finalising that review now. We are also looking at a longer-term review of student placements generally, but the representative bodies asked for very quick action. They asked that any Covid-19-related allowances, if there is to be an increase, would be in place by January....

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Nursing Education (10 Dec 2020)

Stephen Donnelly: It is a matter of record that a member of Deputy Cullinane's party asked me directly in a committee about the apprenticeship model and repeated analogies have been made to what apprentices are paid. The example of Australia has been raised in this House, which runs both an apprenticeship model and a degree programme. I assure Deputy Cullinane, therefore, that we are taking this issue very...